Blog Post 6

I read the paper titled Location-Based Services: Introduction To Location-Based Services
Here's the article!

By 2011 1 in 2 Americans will have a smart phone. People will also be on the web on their phones a lot more then they ever were with these smart phones. Location based services will also be on the rise because of smart phones, the paper said "Using Location-based services, your organization can tap into that on-the-go market by producing special offers and making it easy for your customers to spread the word about your business."

One of the most useful things I learned from the paper was that location based services are good for business. The paper said "Location-based services give you a great way to identify and reward your frequent customers. Best of all, these services offer FREE word-of-mouth advertising and promotions. Every time one of your customers checks-in at your location, they're telling their friends about your business." Most businesses should use location based services because it could possibly help them get more business which means more revenue for them.

Some different examples of these location based services out there are foursquare, Yelp, WHERE, and Facebook places. Foursquare is the most popular of them all. In 2011 foursquare increased its user base to over 7 million users. Anytime you are somewhere you can also post a status on Facebook and pin point exactly where you are at. Yelp has great reviews and ratings about everywhere and anywhere. WHERE is big on the east coast. It helps you locate the nearest lets say coffee shop that is closest to you.

I found this paper useful. I never knew that location based services were so popular. I do not use the check in on Facebook or anything because I do not think people need to know exactly where I am at all times. I do think that WHERE is great, because sometimes I am in an area I don't know and need to find a place to eat or get a coffee and it is really easy and simple to find them using this app.

Some surprising information I found was that the percent between male and female who use check in services is pretty much equal. I would think that female would use it more just because they are into that stuff more. I also found it surprising that people who are full time employment use the check in service the most. I would think they did not have that much time to use these and that possibly part time would use these apps more.